Alabama Finishes its Foreign Tour at 3-0 After Defeating China, 89-77
8/12/2022 4:08:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Brandon Miller scored 21, Noah Clowney collected a double-double with 11 points and 10 boards to lead the Tide past the No. 29-ranked team in the world
PARIS – Five players scored in double figures to lead the Alabama men's basketball team to an impressive 89-77 victory over the Chinese National Team, which came into the contest ranked No. 29 in the world FIBA rankings. With the victory, the Crimson Tide ends the 2022 Foreign Tour with a perfect 3-0 record, which included wins over the Spain Select Team (108-64) and Lithuania B National Team (120-61).
Freshman Brandon Miller led the charge by finishing with 21 in the victory, including 16 in the second half alone, to record his second-straight 20-point contest. Across his three games, Miller led the Tide in scoring at 22.0 points per contest.
Sophomore Nimari Burnett, who won the Hard Hat award, had 13 points on the night, while freshman Noah Clowney ended with a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds. Juniors Darius Miles and Mark Sears also reached double figures with 11 and 10, respectively.
Once again, Alabama used a huge advantage on the glass to keep the Chinese in check. The Tide owned a 47-36 advantage on the boards, including a big 23-10 edge on the offensive glass.
Highlights
- The Tide connected on 36.8 percent (28-of-76) from the field and just 18.6 percent (6-of-32) from beyond the arc
- In addition to its big advantage on the glass, the Tide also forced China into 21 turnovers, compared to only 11 by UA
- Alabama scored the game's first seven points before China responded with a 17-4 run to take a 17-11 lead midway through the first half
- UA responded by scoring nine of the next 13 points to close the game at 21-20 after the first quarter
- Burnett and Welch hit back-to-back threes to give the Tide the lead for good at 31-27 with just over five minutes remaining before halftime
- The third quarter saw the Tide catch fire, outscoring China 24-19 to take a double-digit lead at 65-54 after three
- UA would stretch its lead to as many as 20 points in the fourth, before settling for the 12-point win
- Dom Welch also had a solid individual performance as he added eight points and seven rebounds on the night
- Six of Clowney's game-high 10 rebounds came on the offensive end of the floor
- Head coach Nate Oats started three different starting lineups on the Tide's Foreign Tour
- Burnett earned the Hard Hat Award, joining Miller (Lithuania) and Rylan Griffen (Spain) as the recipients of the award in the three contests
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